Sunderland are resigned to losing Jordan Henderson to Liverpool and are
planning to use the proceeds of a transfer deal that could be worth almost
£20 million to tempt England striker Peter Crouch to Wearside.

Big deal: Liverpool is the likely destination for Jordan Henderson (right) with Sunderland resigned to his departurePhoto: AP

By Rob Stewart

6:15AM BST 07 Jun 2011

The Stadium of Light club are now ready to allow the England Under-21 midfielder to leave for Anfield in the near future after Henderson indicated that he was keen to make the switch from his hometown club to Merseyside.

The Sunderland manager, Steve Bruce, has admitted defeat in his attempts to keep Henderson and his club are confident that Liverpool will meet their asking price before the European Under-21 Championship begins this weekend.

Henderson’s departure will not go down well with supporters but it strengthens Bruce’s prospects of persuading Crouch to leave Tottenham for Sunderland as he seeks a replacement for former Spurs forward Darren Bent, who left the North East for Aston Villa in a £24 million move last January.

It is understood that Sunderland will have to pay £10 million for Crouch, 30, to match the sum Tottenham paid to Portsmouth for his services two years ago, when he joined them on a five-year contract.

Bruce will know that it will be difficult to convince Crouch to join his side. The striker changed his mind about joining Sunderland from Portsmouth two summers ago after the clubs had agreed a £12 million deal and the player had agreed personal terms.

Niall Quinn, the Sunderland chairman, has previously admitted that the recruitment of a target man will be the club’s priority this summer to fill the void left by Bent and bring the best out of £13 million record signing Asamoah Gyan.

That would enable Sunderland to build on their top-10 finish. “It’s been an up-and-down sort of season but the way it came to a close made us all quietly satisfied,” Quinn said.